Bearing News

Religious perceptions on abortion contradict America’s founding principle of autonomy

Shubha Gautam • October 12, 2021

The true reason why abortion, a purely medical operation, has become such a dividing aspect of American politics is its increased religious meaning among Christians, tearing down the traditional backbone of autonomy in American society. However, the concept of autonomy is often selectively applied, as seen in the hesitance to getting the COVID-19 vaccine in the name of autonomy and the contradictory opposition to allowing women to get an abortion by many of the same individuals.

That’s debatable: Should colleges require COVID-19 vaccines?

Multiple Authors • September 30, 2021

The widespread use of COVID-19 vaccines since last spring and recent full FDA approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine calls into question whether government, state and higher education entities will and can use their power to require COVID-19 inoculations.

British royal family drama exemplifies flaws of monarchy governments

Nora Crutcher-McGowan • June 2, 2021

While plenty of modern monarchs are not as oppressive as these textbook figures, we see similar ludicrous externalities from present-day monarchies that shouldn’t exist in the first place, such as the British royal family’s recent coverage regarding their family drama. Some argue that monarchies such as the United Kingdom’s are important to sustain because of tradition and glamour, but why should lower-status citizens even attempt to preserve this exclusive culture?

Colonization of sex: European norms suppress Indigenous culture

Shruti Gautam • April 22, 2021

European colonizers came to the Americas with ambition, bringing along other traits of their land. Through religion and guns, they forced their cultural norms onto the Indigenous peoples. Colonizers were...

’80s moral panics pervade society

Nora Crutcher-McGowan • April 15, 2021

Rapid social change and upheaval frightened people into clinging to the narrative of the evil stranger, allowing them to neglect or fail to realize that much of the abuse at the hands of children comes from within the home. To this day, remnants of the panic-fraught ‘80s live on.

COVID-19 in indigenous reservations, lack of support and response

Shruti Gautam • February 22, 2021

As of Jan. 25, the Navajo Nation had 27,573 positive cases of COVID-19. Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people make up 0.7% of the US population; however, the group accounted for...

CPS administration ought to take responsibility for student gatherings, reduce spread of COVID-19

Multiple Authors • January 12, 2021

The RBHS staff voted unanimously to condemn the actions — or lack thereof — that CPS administrators took to condemn the homecoming dance RBHS students put on.

Clubs use social media platforms to leave lasting impacts

Shruti Gautam • December 30, 2020

Wvery school year, posts from student-run accounts flood Instagram, each representing a club or organization at RBHS. Social media is a way to connect with the world and share information about events, and RBHS clubs avidly take advantage of this method.

Web combats global isolation during pandemic

Anjali Noel Ramesh • December 28, 2020

In response to decreased face-to-face contact, the global population turned to various social networking platforms to communicate with each other, leading to a 10% increase in world-wide social media usage from January to July of this year, according to research institution DataReportal.

School shootings and gun violence lead to discourse and policies

Shruti Gautam • December 14, 2020

The United States faced a great loss after the Sandy Hook shooting eight years ago, on Dec. 14, 2012. But, the country has faced such incidents before and after that day, including the 1999 Columbine shooting...

Play that pays the bills: Child social media stars subject to exploitation, harm

Allison Kim • December 14, 2020

As social media has become a more dominant source for social interaction, many parents are sharing content involving their children, launching their kids into internet stardom, and essentially exploiting them for money and fame.

Sexualized media representation damages young girls’ development, health

Allison Kim • November 16, 2020

An overwhelming percentage of media that minors see presents sexualized characters, especially girls, even in content specifically targeted toward children. Visual media sends ideas to girls from a young age, and as they get older, this constant exposure to the objectification of female bodies can cause girls to internalize the sexualizing messages in the cultural environment they exist in, impacting them during identity formation.